Sic Semper Tyrannis
by SpinalColumnSoup
Summary: The story of Sora, a member of the Ghost Corps rebellion. Changes and challenges shape her as she adapts to a new life, but her end goal is the same: Death to murderers. Thus to all tyrants. Gaixoc GaiOC
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Sora and the river village belong to me. Nothing else in this universe does. Sad face.

Chapter 1

She always heard it before she felt it. The soft tinkling on the metal pipes and the rooftops that sounded like wind chimes. The noise soon became a harsh roar that echoed around the lower levels of the city. Minutes later (though it felt like ages) searing, hot drops splashed down, scalding and turning exposed skin pink. It was hard to believe that it was rain causing the pale skin of the woman to change colors and become sensitive.

Sora took a deep breath and continued on her solitary walk home, swaggering her way through the throng of people. The crowd of people that had previously parted around Sora now scurried for whatever shelter they could find. Women dressed for the steamy air of the Under City, shrieked as the near boiling water rolled down the broad expanse of skin they bared. Sora snickered at their antics as they shoved and fought to get fully under the small canopy they found. Sora assumed the fighting was only playful; there was no blood spilled after all.

Sora didn't blame them for trying to get further into the shelter. She had fought tooth and nail when she was a kid to make sure her sister and she could get out of the heated rain. At this moment, however, Sora didn't need to find asylum from the rain. Her thick leather armor deflected the rain as well as it did kunai. It was probably the best thing she had ever blown so much money on. The garment had saved her life so many times Sora had lost count.

The street emptied and she continued on her walk, moseying along the ground floor, grey eyes on the brown tinted river that ran parallel to it. She tensed slightly as she felt someone sneak up behind her. Her left hand automatically inched towards the long blade stored at her lower back. Then a grin twitched Sora's lips as she recognized the energy pattern and her arm fell away from the knife to push her drenched, unruly red hair from her face.

"Hey kid." Sora rolled her eyes at the owner of the voice.

"I'm twenty-two. I'm not a kid." She turned to glare at the blue haired figure through the steaming rain.

A man four inches shorter than her five foot eleven inches, or 180.34 centimeters if you were talking to her sister, sauntered over to her. The rain obviously didn't bother him even though it matted his short blue hair and soaked through his typical Shinobi clothes. His gear didn't protect him from the heat of the water or even the water itself unlike Sora's brown trimmed green leather armor. His black eyes were squinted in the dark light of the Under City, trying his hardest to clearly see. Sora laughed at him mentally. What an Upper City baby. He couldn't even see in the middle of the day, which was the brightest the Under City ever got. The sun had a hard time piercing through the smog and getting around the shadows of the tall buildings. The lighting was similar to the upper levels late dusk bordering night.

"So what's going on in the Upper City that brings you down here?" she asked eyeing the man curiously. He sighed and pulled something from his pouch that was clipped to his belt. It was made of dark blue fabric and had a metal piece on it. It looked like a Hitai-ate but it had a strange symbol on it that Sora had never seen before. It swirled in the middle before jutting outwards and on the opposite side was a triangle.

"The hell is that, Wakata?" she asked snatching the ninja gear from him. She traced the pattern with her long fingers.

"It's from a group of foreign Shinobi that were detained while passing through without permission. I was sent down here to ask around if anyone has seen any Shinobi wearing a hitai-ate similar." Sora snorted. There was no way in hell any of the citizens would talk to Wakata about this. They were too hopeful another village would help them. Sora knew it was a lost cause.

"Ok, so now why are you _here_?" she asked, cocking her scarred left eyebrow. He held out his hand and Sora deposited the item back into his palm.

"Your sister sent me after you." The Nin said as he tucked his glove covered hands into his pockets, putting away the contraband item. Sora always watched the man's lips when he talked. The scar marring his upper and lower lip pulled and moved as his lips did. Sora snorted and shifted positions, stomping her boots in the forming puddle beside her.

"You her errand boy now, Wakata?"

"Only when she's throwing things across the room that's twice her size and weight. Even though she's only a healer, Suzume gets scary when she's upset." Wakata watched the river as Sora watched him. There was nothing condescending in his eyes or voice, even though the content of what he said could have been misconstrued as such. He was a lucky man. He could live to see another day.

"Wha' she crabbing 'bout now?" Sora sighed and turned away from the river and slowly started to walk towards the direction of home base.

"Not only have you not chosen anyone for the raid but you also have neglected to get your monthly health check up. Breaking bones is a serious matter, Sora, and 'Zume wanted to make sure you were healthy enough to even go on the raid."

"'Zume'? You getting the hots for my little sister?" Wakata turned an interesting shade of purple and began to mutter like a fool. Sora was only joking but it seemed that she had unintentionally struck gold.

"Well-I…you see-we have-no-after long nights of-doesn't sound right either…I meant to ask but you see-" Sora couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, showing her bone white teeth, including her sharp canines. A laugh bust from her throat and she patted Wakata on the back ending his rambling answer.

"I was teasing. You're probably the only one I would ever see my sister be with. You're a good man, Wakata." The violet color bled from his face and he let out a small sigh of relief.

"Thank god-"

"But that doesn't mean I won't rip your spine out of your body if you screw her over. Got it?" the man nodded solemnly, "Good, treat her like a queen. She deserves it." The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours. Finally, Wakata responded.

"She really does. Deserve to be treated like a queen, I mean." The blue haired man clarified his statement. Sora nodded in satisfaction and looked up, feeling the rain slowly stopping. That was a quick shower; just enough to make the already humid air unbearable.

"Let's go before Suzume shits a water pipe." Wakata nodded beside her and launched off the ground floor, landing neatly on a swinging, wet rope bridge fifty feet above Sora. She rolled her eyes and quickly followed suit, pushing off with her closed toe boots, using her energy to put power behind the jump. She landed twenty feet above Wakata on a balcony rail. Leaning over, she made a face at him, pulling down her lower eyelid and sticking out her tongue. His right eye twitched and Sora saw him preparing to jump after her. Oh, so he wanted to race did he? Sora took off adding more energy to her jumps. Wakata was right behind her, bounding from every precarious rope bridge and windowsill. That was until, Sora decided to up the ante. She pulled her other energy deep from her core and blasted away from Wakata, disappearing from sight. She didn't go as fast as she could have however. There was no need to make it sound like it was thundering after all.

Sora landed on the slick outcropping, waiting patiently for her racing partner. If she loved anything it was a good race. Sora sucked in a deep breath of cleaner air. The smog was somewhat less abundant on the 170th floor. It also was a good vantage point to see the village, well most of it anyway. There were several giant buildings in total in the village that rose to varying levels. The smallest was 200 stories tall; the barrier line between the Under City and the Upper City. The tallest was 300 stories and housed all the major ninja and shops of the village. It was also the tower that the Toukage (tower shadow) lived and worked. She had often wondered about that sick bastard of a man. How did one get like he did? So sick and twisted that he hated his people; so paranoid that no-one knew what he looked like. Often times it made Sora furious, but also, on rare occasions, it made her sad that humanity could be twisted like that.

The buildings were made of slick concrete and metal supports. The straightness of the buildings was supposed to keep the ninja in the higher parts of the city and the ordinary civilians in the lowest part. It didn't work. There had been foot holes carved painstakingly into the concrete; rope bridges were constructed so the civilians could travel from level to level; scaffolding ladders had been built from wood floated in on the river and placed so the people could climb higher. If there was one thing to be said about the population of the Under City, they were resourceful and determined.

Along the sides of the buildings were posters of the River Village's symbol: three waves one over top the other. There were also signs of the rebellion's symbol painted over the posters and carvings: a red horizontal line that slanted down to slash through the waves. That same symbol was displayed on the back of Sora's armor and she wore it with pride.

Wakata finally leaped onto the platform next to Sora, slightly out of breath. He walked towards her and led the way into the dark room behind her.

"I forget how hard it is to keep up with you when you pull out your boufuu kousoku (High speed storm) technique." He yanked on one Sora's many braids lightly, not wanting to injury his hand on the spike strip she braided into them.

"That's because you spend more time with my sister than you do with me now-a-days." Sora drawled, matching his pace easily with her longer legs.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed. Sora shrugged.

"It's alright, I find things to do without you." She flashed him a smile and nudged him back onto the correct path; it was even darker in the inner tunnel. The smell of musk and mold permeated the air and Sora knew they were getting close. Her eyes seemed to flash in the dark as a small light appeared overhead of them. It shined on both of them and then, after blinking rapidly, it disappeared.

Wakata followed close behind her as a stone door slid open to their left. The sound of music and chatting people drifted from within and beckoned to Sora. A sincere smile tilted her mouth. She was home.

A/N well this story has been cluttering my computer for about a year and I think that it should be shared and critiqued. So please review and let me know your thoughts!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: None of the characters in Naruto belong to me yadda yadda yadda, etc.

A/N : Thank you to all who reviewed and added to story alert/favorites I really appreciate it! Especially since this was never supposed to be published. I'm glad it's appreciated.

Chapter 2

The minute Sora walked into the dimly lit, empty room, she was mobbed by small children that came barreling out of the only door on the far wall.

"Thunder-onee-san! Thunder-onee-san! You're home!" a small boy with brown hair squealed and latched himself to her leg. Three other children followed suit. The tallest reached up to her waist.

"You should have seen me, Thunder-onee-san! I kicked Hisoka's butt!" the same little boy said tugging on Sora's pants. He looked up at her black eyes wide and endearing.

"Nu-uh! I totally would have won, but you cheated! Kazuo is a cheater, Thunder-onee-san, a cheater!" Hisoka pouted and let go of Sora's other leg with one hand to swat at the gloating child. Hisoka looked similar to Kazuo with the dark hair and eyes but the Kazuo had freckles adorning his cheeks while Hisoka did not.

"Now, now munchkins, there's no such thing as cheating when you're fighting. I like to think of it as resourcefully using your environment." Hisoka pouted more and Kazuo laughed. The other two children hugged her tighter. Wakata laughed and maneuvered around Sora to head deeper into the training facility/head quarters.

"Yes, I know you're there Taro, and you too Seiko. How's training coming along, Seiko? I hope the Doc ain't being too much of a terror."

"I brought a frog back to life yesterday! He was dead and cold and gross and I was just like concentrate. And I did! And he's alive!" the lighter brunette girl smiled up at Sora and clutched on to her waistband of her pants. She was the tallest and oldest of the four there and the only girl. It was only natural to Seiko that she be taught by one of the women that was at home base; she chose Suzume as her mentor.

"Wow! Good job, I bet Doc's super proud huh?" a blush spread over her face and she beamed up at Sora, "Should I call you Frog from now on?" The girl laughed and shook her head furiously.

"I don't even _like _frogs!" Sora grinned and ruffled her hair. She turned to the youngest of the group and smoothed down his turbulent ebony locks.

"What about you, Taro? What you been up to?" the child gripped her pant leg harder and jumped up and down, squealing excitedly.

"Up, Thunder-onee-san, up!" Sora grinned and scooped the lightweight child up in her arms, bouncing him a few times.

"So what's been happening kiddo? What kind of mischief have you been into?" the child giggled and buried his fingers carefully in Sora's hair, fascinated with the color. He had once grabbed a braid too hard and sliced his fingers open on the spike strips. Taro learned his lesson: be nice to other people's hair.

"Made Thunder-onee-san a present!" Sora gasped and held onto Taro with one arm, pressing her other hand to her mouth in surprise.

"A present? For me? Ah, you shouldn't have, kiddo!" Taro grinned at her and tugged on a spike free piece of hair, before shoving his small, dirty hands into his pockets. He wrestled with items in his pocket, precariously leaning back to be able to wiggle down to the very bottoms of his deep pockets. Sora was able to adjust her hold on him and support his wriggling body with ease. Giving a shout of triumph, Taro pulled free his hand and presented it to her with enthusiasm. In his hand was a necklace made of several strands of black string braided together and in the middle, a small lightning bolt charm dangled and gleamed happily. It was bright yellow with thin white trim at the edges.

"Wow, it's so pretty! Did you make it all by yourself, Taro?" the little boy shook his head and pouted a little.

"Doc-onee-san helped. Put on?" he held it open towards her, the latch undone. Sora unbuttoned the neck latching part of her armor.

"Go ahead." The small boy leaned in close to put the necklace on her. As his hands pressed around her neck and the string pushed against her skin, she stiffened slightly. Sora closed her eyes and took a subtle deep breath. This was a small boy putting a necklace he made around her neck, not somebody trying to strangle her.

"Done!" he exclaimed and pulled back to see his handiwork. Sora felt the small weight around her neck settle to rest on her collarbone and she opened her grey eyes.

"Well? Does it look pretty on me?" She asked the children bending down to let them get a better look of the charm on her pale skin. Taro squealed as he was held hovering about the ground dangerously. He gripped onto Sora's armor, smiling as he was lowered even further.

"It looks so pretty, Thunder-Onee-san!"

"I want one, Taro!"

"Me, too! I want a raincloud to match Thunder-Onee-san!"

Sora chuckled and looked up, sensing someone approaching. It was a woman that looked nearly identical to Sora except for the darker, sapphire eyes and longer hair. The woman also wasn't as tall or as battle hardened. She wore a plain blue t-shirt and jeans. Boots similar to Sora's adorned her feet and she knew by experience that there were knives tucked into the sides. Just because she was a healer, didn't mean that she wasn't to be prepared.

"Hey Doc, would you like to adopt a child?" the children around Sora giggled and a smile twitched at the ginger's fuller lips. Good, at least Suzume wasn't insanely mad at her.

"Dinners ready, go eat. Thunder and I will join you shortly." Suzume said in a soft voice. The children nodded and ran off. Taro squirmed to be let down and Sora complied. He gave her leg one last hug before scampering off to sit with the rest of the kids. Sora watched them race inside the other doorway and into the dimly lit room.

"You didn't even tell me you were skipping out for a while." Came the huffy response. Sora turned to her younger twin and shrugged.

"Didn't think that you'd mind. I just went patrolling around the levels, makin sure everything was ok." her sister ground her teeth together and grabbed Sora by the arm hauling her into another room.

"Well you neglected to make sure that you were ok. What if you had run into a Shinobi and you haven't recovered from breaking your arm huh? What happens when you tried to block the blow and your arm shattered even more? Do you _ever _think about the consequences of your actions, Sora?"

Sora was promptly dragged into a ridiculously white room that smelled of cleaner and antiseptics. It made her gag. The room had a desk in the far corner and there were cabinets and countertops lining the walls. The only places that didn't have the countertop/cabinet combo were where the desk was pushed up against the wall and where the beds were. There were two of them parallel to each other and the headboards were against the wall. The beds were empty and so was the room.

"I think sometimes, I was just cooped up and needed something to do. You know how I get when I'm on bed rest, Suzume." The woman sighed and nodded. She did know; it was nearly impossible to get Sora to rest without sedating her.

"Sit down and let me look at your arm." Suzume motioned to the bed closest to her and Sora sat on the opposite bed to spite her. Suzume turned from reviewing Sora's medical file and rolled her eyes at her older sister's childish antics.

"And yet I'm the younger one." She crossed the room and grabbed Sora's right arm. She turned the arm in circles, watching the fluid movement of the limb, and then turned it palm up to remove the armor that stuck to the top half of the limb. There were three black bands that kept it in place on her arm and they had to be unsnapped to remove the garment. There was also a clasp that attached it to her corset like under armor that held it together at the shoulders.

The arm piece fell away and Suzume began to slowly feel her way up the bone. She pushed her energy through the skin and layered it onto the bone, testing for weak spots. Suzume continued this process all down her sister's arms, listening for gasps of pain and feeling for a lack of dexterity in the bone.

Sora's grin grew wider and wider as Suzume pushed harder and harder, obviously aggravated that she wasn't finding any brittle spots in the hard bone. It was obvious that the limb had healed sufficiently.

"Ya know, _you're_ going to break it if you push any harder." Sora commented, her Cheshire expression widening as her sister released her with a huff.

"I'm tempted." They shared a grin, knowing that she wouldn't

"So, am I fit for duty?"

"Yes, but I'd rather you didn't go. I have a bad feeling about this one, Nee-chan." Sora shrugged, buckling her armor back into its proper place and sliding off the bed.

"It's the chance we all take. Besides you'll know if something goes wrong anyway." She reminded her little sister as she lowered the top of her pants, revealing a bony hip and a circular, black seal on the dip beside it. All the members of Ghost Corps had a matching one and with it they could tell if each other was injured or healthy, alive or dead.

"I know I just feel like I'm going to lose you, for real this time. I mean, how many close calls can one person have before-" Suzume's voice cracked slightly and she turned, unable to finish her sentence. The taller ginger in the room walked over to her sister and forced Suzume to look her in her the face. Suzume had tears forming and spilling from her deep sapphire eyes. Sora wiped at her cheeks with her thumbs, brushing away the already spilt tears.

"Listen to me, Suzume. I will not leave you willingly. I will fight till my very last breath to stay with you. I watched over you when you were little and I plan to keep watching over you until I'm old and batty. Got that?"

Suzume nodded and embraced her much taller sister. Sora rested her head against Suzume's as they hugged.

"Sora?" Suzume whispered to her from the hug.

"Yes, imouto-chan?" her sister fidgeting and Sora held her back a ways so she could study her sisters face. She looked almost embarrassed.

"Do you ever…I mean, wouldn't it be nice to be protected for once instead of always protecting? Do you ever think you're going to find someone who can protect you?"

"Are you asking if I'm ever going to find someone to shack up with permanently?" She asked in confusion, her scarred eyebrow shooting up into her hairline. Suzume blushed slightly.

"You say it so vulgarly, Sora. Honestly love is not like that at all, it's wonderful. You think about him all the time and you want to share everything with him. Your day goes by and you laugh thinking about all the things that happened and ask yourself ' What would he have thought' or 'What would he have done'. You feel alive and you feel full of energy, you tingle from toes to head with the force of it." Suzume closed her eyes in bliss. Sora's eyebrows stayed put in its sarcastic expression.

"That sounds completely obsessive and borderline stalker-ish. I think I'll stick with one nighters, dearest." Suzume's eyes shot open and she contemplated the thought for a minute and how to explain it better.

"It's really not that obsessive with everyone I suppose, but it truly is the greatest feeling in the world."

"Uh-huh and this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with Wakata, now would it?" Suzume's color just about matched her hair.

"Where did you- who said- how do you-" she spluttered as Sora grinned and waved her hand.

"Oh, Nee-chan has her ways, Suzume. But never fear, sister gives her approval. Wakata has been thoroughly warned and threatened. He knows the risks."

"Nee-chan," Suzume groaned covering her blushing face with her hands. Sora patted her back and headed towards the door.

"Come on, dearest. Dinner will all be gone and I still have to pick out those to go on the raid tonight." And with that Sora exited from the hospital room.

Dinner was served in the mess hall. The mess hall was a skinny room that was filled with one long table and benches. The kitchen was connected to the mess hall, allowing for the cooks to bring the food in with minimal contact with other people. What had happened previously was that the kitchen was in the center of all the rooms and dinner was devoured before it got to the table. So two bedrooms were broken down and the kitchen replaced them.

The benches were filled with an assortment of men and women, all dressed in various forms of battle gear, eating and talking. Sora grinned at the noisy room as she entered, Suzume at her back. A large man with piercing golden eyes, black hair, and tattoos outlining his skeletal frame glanced up and did a double take as he saw the twins enter. He grinned and forced the skinny woman next to him to scoot over and make room. Sora sat next to the man and Suzume went around her to sit next to Wakata. He had been subtly, or attempting to subtly, making eye contact with the younger twin. Sora didn't mind her sister's absence at dinner; Suzume didn't like Bones very much anyway.

"Hey, Thunder, where'd you disappear to this mornin', eh? We were all waitin' for you to pick your raid party." The man handed her a plate full of meat and some greenery. Sora took it gladly and didn't even mind when Bones purposefully brushed his large hand against hers. She had slept with him multiple times before to rid herself of 'The Bug' and didn't mind skin contact with him to a degree on a normal basis. The Bug was the stress and anxiety that was often felt by the raid party after coming into contact with Shinobi. The jittery-ness went away after days if left alone but usually a night full of hard romping shortened the recovery time.

"I was patrolling. And don't worry Bones; I'll need you on this raid." The yellow eyed man grinned. Sora grabbed a fork and dug in, shoveling the meat into her mouth at breakneck speeds, barely chewing before she swallowed. Bones let out a deep chuckle next to her.

"I do like a woman with a big appetite." He said trailing his finger over her right hand. Sora felt all the muscles in her right arm clench from the skin on skin contact. Ok that was a little too much and a little too familiar for her.

"Back off or you won't ever get to enjoy a woman again, Bones." Sora growled at him between mouthfuls. Bones respected her wishes and removed his hand from hers. It wasn't wise to test Sora, the results were never good. Bones had a few scars on his body to prove it. The skinny woman that Bones had pushed over leaned around him and watched Sora eat, waiting for her to be done.

"Sumpin ya wawnt?" Sora garbled around her food at the woman. The pale, reptile like woman nodded.

"This raid is tonight. Have you picked party members yet?" Sora nodded gulping down her food with a bit of difficulty.

"I've got what I need planned out; I just have to finish picking out the particulars. I need one with speed, two with brute strength, one long range fighter, one close range and one scout. I got Bones here for my close range and I wanted Big Man and Mutt for their strength and Runner for scout." The woman furrowed her brow and tapped her fingernails against the wood table.

"Runner was critically injured on the last mission he was on. He might spook."

"That's why I wanted you to come, Lizard, as my other speed and to help stabilize everyone. I'm not going to lie, I heard this shipment was big and there is going to be ninja guards, but this is a huge shipment of medicinal goods, the good shit like energy pills and whatever. This is important and they aren't expecting any resistance because we've being laying low. And Doc said that she was running low on supplies and civilians keep coming in with injuries. We need those supplies." The woman closed her dark eyes and contemplated the scenario for a minute before nodding her head, eyes flicking open.

"I will go if there are two long range fighters, both Monk and Arrow." She said taking a sip of her drink. Sora groaned.

"Why Arrow? If anyone is going to be spooked it's him. He's bolted twice on raids that I've been on with him. "

"Arrow is going because he is an excellent long range fighter. He has a gift with wires." Sora rolled her eyes

"He also has the gift of being a pussy and a douche," Sora sighed as Lizard gave her a pointed look, "Fine, Bones go round them up for me and meet me in the hallway at dark." The man rose from his seat and sauntered off, shrugging a muscled shoulder.

"Whatever you say, boss woman," Sora rolled her eyes at his retreating back and continued eating, ignoring the world around her as she focused on her food.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When it was finally dark enough to raid, Sora left her room, ready and armed, and walked out to the only exit. Sitting down on the platform that jutted out from the building, she waited and watched. No-one would show for another five to ten minutes, but Sora enjoyed being early. The silence before helped her think.

She looked down and smiled as her city came to life. There was a slight buzz in the air of whispered talking and the smell of food wafted up from the dark depths. Shadowy figures began to move around from building to building. It was usually in the dead of night when the citizens came out to do their business. There were no lights still because to have lights down here was to attract the attention of those up above; no-one wanted that. Instead the people learned to scope out things during the day and purchase at night. The true born and bred Under City civilians barely came out during the day; the light was harsh on their eyes. This was the case with Sora and the reason everyone was unaware that she had left the safety of the dark head quarters. Sora, however, had trained her eyes to adjust by adding her energy to them and taking it from them. The more energy she added to them, the better she could see in brighter light. It didn't stop the light sensitivity completely, but it did help. Suzume had explained it to her once, saying that her eyes held an abnormal amount of rods for a human. Sora wasn't exactly sure what that meant but Suzume had said that it helped with seeing in low lighted areas and was probably due to genetic mutation. Naturally Sora didn't care so much as to _why _she could see better in the dark, just as long as she could.

"Already out here, Tower?" Sora gritted her teeth and turned to glare at the man behind her. He was short, even for River Village's standards, just barely brushing five foot. He had dark hair and eyes, as was common and was wearing dark leather armor from head to toe. The clothing didn't have the Ghost Corps symbol on it like all other members.

"What do you want, Arrow?" he sneered and leaned against the wall.

"I'm here for the raid, just like you." Sora rolled her eyes and fiddled with her thigh knife pointedly.

"No, why are you talking to me?" the man shrugged, "Then don't unless you have a reason."

"Why, Tower? Don't like me very much?"

"No, I don't and don't call me Tower."

"I'll address you by what characteristic I want, you freakishly tall bitch." He scoffed, still acting cool. Sora cut off the growl that bubbled in her throat, not wanting him to have the satisfaction of knowing that he was irritating her.

_Don't show that it hurts. Tough. Unbreakable. That's what you are. Stay that way._

"Then I can address you how I want, Coward." His hands clenched into fists and he took a step forward.

"I am NOT a coward, you freak." He snarled. Sora growled and stood, towering over him by eleven inches easy. She gathered her energy at the edge of her skin, ready to deploy her shield if she needed too.

"I would take that step back if I was you, Arrow." A deep voice drawled out of the dark hallway behind the man. The owner of the voice, a giant man, stepped out of the dark followed by the rest of the raiding party. Bones snarled at Arrow stepping out from behind the larger man, his golden eyes molten with anger. Arrow sneered back but stepped away from Sora. They gathered in a circle around the woman and Sora thumped the largest man on the chest as he passed her in thanks. She counted them all and nodded. Everyone was here, might as well jump straight in.

"All right, here's the plan," the group gathered in close around the young woman, "we're not going to break up into groups of even four like usual. I want Arrow and Monk to surround the group and see if they can pick off any enemy Shinobi before we attack. Don't engage if we are not in position to provide back up. As they are doing that Lizard, Bones and I will come in and take care of the ones that the long range can't take out." Arrow nodded slightly. Monk, a medium sized man in a cape like jacket that was filled with weapons, bowed his head in agreement. Lizard and Bones also nodded.

"Then after we have engaged all the Shinobi that are there, I want Big Man and Mutt to get in and take as much of the shipment as they can. Runner, your job is to make sure that the Shinobi have no back up coming, report back every half hour; if they have back up give the alarm and tuck tail. Everyone got that?" There was a collective nod, "Good. Let's beat some ass." She grinned at them and pulled her black beanie from her pocket. It went snugly over her cherry colored hair and she jumped to the wall of the opposite building, clinging to the side like a gecko. Seven shadows followed her as she began to climb up the side of the building.

The climb up the slick wall wasn't difficult due to the energy they channeled to their feet. It let them stick to any surface like glue. The climb was also a cake walk because none of the lights were on in the building they were climbing on so they didn't have to avoid the windows. It was as if they were all gone. As Sora reached the top of the building she nodded off to the sides and the long range fighters took off; Monk going to the left and Arrow towards an abandoned apartment to the right. Runner crept up beside Sora, his pale face ashen and he ran off to scout as Sora gave the go ahead. There she and her remaining five waited…and waited…and waited.

Sora sighed slightly out her nose and looked around, glancing up at the night sky. The night sun was far past the center. Where the hell was that shipment? It should have gone past by now and Runner should have reported back.

"Lizard, there's something wrong. Where's Runner?" Sora looked behind her and Lizard shrugged, standing on a windowsill.

"Thunder, what do we do?" Big Man asked her shifting uneasily. Sora chewed on her lip, thinking

"Wait a bit longer, maybe the shipment was late." Sora shivered as a breeze pushed in on her left and inhaled the clean air. It was unusual for her to breathe such clean air and she took the time to enjoy it. The breeze in the Upper City smelled sweet, almost like it was laced with sugar and had an irony tinge to it.

Wait, iron? Sora froze in realization and looked towards the breeze. Right next to them was a darkened apartment floor. The three windows broken through cleanly as if they had been removed and the rooms beyond had no light in them. As Sora stared harder into the gloom she saw a slightly flash of silver. Monk didn't wear anything silver and his weapons were black. A dark figure moved in the building. The body frame didn't match Monk's.

"Ambush," Sora breathed, shock and fear flooding her system. Her eyes went wide and she heard the shocked inhales behind her, "ITS AN AMBUSH!" She tried to leap from the side of the building, but was forced to jump up as knives came flying her way. One look at the knives and she knew they were caught in an ambush. The blades were short compared to her long knives and the handles had a small ring on the top, Shinobi knives. The knives had explosive paper attached to them and forced the group to scatter as they exploded.

Sora landed on the top of the building and let out a shrill whistle; the alarm. She didn't get to whistle very long before a Shinobi appeared in front of her. He wasn't as tall as her but then again he didn't need to be to kill her. Sora whipped out a long knife to block his weapon. They locked weapons in front of her in a stalemate before Sora kicked at his chest. He was forced back but there was another behind her. Sora ducked low and swept her long legs at the Shinobi's feet as she twirled around to face him. He jumped to avoid and as he did so she followed after him, long knife in hand.

Sora sliced through the tendons at the back of his knees and shouted in triumph as she was able to kick him off the building, probably collapsing his chest with the force of her kick. He would make a nice splat on the concrete below.

"Thunder! Look out!" Bones shouted from behind her and Sora turned. A large katana was headed directly for her chest. Sora boosted her energy towards her skin and fired up her Teppekei (iron wall) as she dodged to the side. Instantly a thin covering of blue energy coated her skin. The katana slid over her shoulder and failed to penetrate the shield or her skin. The Shinobi was distracted from her as a set of claws raked across his back. He yelled and turned to face Bones as Sora turned to face yet another Shinobi.

This raid had turned into a disaster. Big Man and Mutt were each facing a Shinobi and seemed to be on the losing end of the fight. They hadn't died yet but they were bleeding and bruised. Bones was fighting two Shinobi and looked like he was running out of steam. Lizard had finished off one opponent and was dashing over to help Big Man. Sora herself had two Shinobi trying to kill her. A beefy kunoichi and a tall Shinobi were both taking swings at her with a katana. She was having trouble fending them off with her long knives.

A cry caught her attention and she looked over in time to see Big Man get impaled through the stomach by a small kunoichi that had snuck up on him. Her long spear jutted out through his abdomen, a piece of purple, bloody flesh connected to its barbed end. Her Teppekei flickered and a katana sliced deep into the skin of her chest and deflected off her neck guard. Hot blood spilled down her chest and trickled through her clothes. She turned, steadied her shield technique and gathered her energy at her feet all in split seconds. Instantly she launched off and a deafening crack echoed through the buildings, shocking the Shinobi. Their opponent was gone. Where had she disappeared to?

Sora reappeared next to Big Man, skidding slightly on the pavement, and bundled his ripped shirt to the wound. The barb had done more damage coming out that going in. Behind them, her two opponents suddenly grasped at their necks as they stepped forward. Blood ran from the slit that slowly appeared on their throats. They tried to suck in air but only succeeded on drawing blood into their lungs. Soon they would either drown in their own blood or suffocate.

"Big Man, get out of here. Mutt, Bones go with him!" She yelled at them, pushing the injured man towards the edge of the building. Lizard had finally finished off the Kunoichi that had injured Big Man and Bones ran to the bleeding man's side.

"Bones," he looked up at her, his eyelids drooping from exhaustion and blood sliding down his face, "get Big Man out of here and take Mutt with you. Lizard and I will be right behind you." The man nodded and pulled the bigger man's arm over his shoulder.

"Yo Mutt, let's go!" he yelled and as the bald man joined him they jumped off the side of the building.

Two more Shinobi appeared and Lizard was having trouble fighting them both at one time. With another thunder like roll, they too dropped dead. Lizard and Sora were on a different roof top, panting.

"Lizard, get back to base." Sora huffed, pushing up her beanie and wiping at the sweat on her brow. Lizard was too focused on the deep gash across her chest.

"Thunder, that needs to be looked at," Sora pushed the woman towards the edge.

"We don't have time, get-," a shrill panicked whistle cut off Sora's sentence. It was Runner sending up his alarm. The kid was in trouble. Sora had assumed he was dead and now that it was obvious he wasn't, fear for his safety kicked it.

"Let's go!" Lizard yelled and they both took off towards the noise. They raced from rooftop to rooftop looking for the source of the noise, but the kid was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" Sora cried in frustration. Lizard shrugged helplessly a desperate look on her face. Another whistle went up, this one ragged and faltering. The noise was close by.

"There!" Lizard cried, pointing to her right and leaping off that way. Sure enough there was little Runner, holding off three Shinobi at once. His small frame allowed for him to dodge most of their attacks and he was a quick little guy, but he was bloodied and needed help in a bad way. Once again Sora used her boufuu kousoku to hasten her way. The thunder-like noise boomed over the slight valley that Runner was fighting in, shocking the Shinobi. One of the three dropped to the ground dead, holding onto his throat as blood spilt from it. The other two were smart enough to move as soon as they heard the noise; Sora must have fought them before. Lizard engaged one and Sora the other.

She was fighting a short, stocky kunoichi and was locked in a stalemate. They exchanged punches and blows, neither landing a hit on the other. Sora was panting noticeably now and sweat trickled down her body. She had used boufuu kousoku four times today, partnered with keeping up her Teppekei and fighting multiple Shinobi of varying skill. Sora was getting worn out. She blocked a high kick and growled as she attempted to slice the tendons in the muscle of the kunoichi's thigh. The kunoichi simply used a two hand combo to disarm her and attempt to break her wrist. Her knife went flying off into the night and her wrist stung painfully. If Sora hadn't been using her shield the wrist would have snapped like a twig, as it was she was going to have a nasty bruise.

"Runner, get out of here!" Sora screamed at him, blocking and exchanging another set of blows with the Kunoichi, managing to land an open hand blow to her chest possibly cracking her sternum. Runner scooted his thin frame out from behind Sora and tried to get away. The other Shinobi that Lizard was fighting appeared beside the kunoichi and halted his escape. Sora growled in frustration, glancing towards where Lizard had been engaging the Shinobi. She laid dead on the concrete just feet away, her chest turned into a giant pulpy mess, fingers still twitching slightly. Her eyes were parted and the brown was dull and lifeless, staring ahead without seeing. White bone gleamed up at Sora through the puddles of red. Sora couldn't tell if it was blood that was making everything red or splattered organs and muscle. Sorrow welled up in Sora, but she fought it down. She needed to focus now. Runner would make it out alive, even if it killed her. She got them into this mess; this ambush was her fault and now she needed to make up for that. She fired up her speed technique again and sliced the kunoichi to ribbons even as she tried to escape from Sora.

Time seemed to slow down when Sora was using her boufuu kousoku and as she turned to see how Runner was doing, her heart froze. There in slow motion, the Shinobi lifted his leg and started to kick at Runner's chest. Images of Lizard's chest rushed through her mind and before Sora knew what was happening she was throwing herself in front of Runner and pushing him off to the side. He was pushed to the ground but quickly scampered to his feet away from the battling pair. Thunder cracked out loudly in the background. Sora barely heard it.

The Shinobi's giant foot crashed down on Sora's body and was blocked by the blue shield. The blue around the foot increased and began to spark wildly as the Shinobi forced more and more of his energy into his foot. The shield dented and pain shot through Sora like a lightning bolt, gripping her chest in tight confines; a crack shuddered through her body and Sora felt copper flood her mouth.

In that instance, a strange feeling bubbled up in Sora's chest. It was tingly and it sparked wildly through her system, similar to the chaotic mess on her shield. It rushed through her, up her arm and turned the black blade of her knife a blinding white. Letting out a scream, Sora slashed at the Shinobi with her last remaining long knife and just caught his chest with the blade. The Shinobi shrieked as the white energy on the blade transferred to him. It spiked violently across his torso and his body, leaving wide burn marks in its wake and it melted his clothes onto his skin. The force of the kickback from her attack threw Sora off the building and the wind whistled in her ears.

She never heard Runner screaming her name or Bones pain filled cries at the sight of her body taking the dive. She never even realized that she still had a grip on her knife. It was clutched in her hands as if it were the only thing keeping her alive. All she could hear was the wind rushing past her. She was flipping and cart wheeling through the air with no intention of righting herself. All she could focus on was the harsh pain of her shield denting in and breaking her bones. Under her the surface of the river grew closer and closer.

With a giant splash, Sora fell into the river from two hundred feet; the only thing that saved her was her Teppekei shield. The plume of water sprayed everyone that was within twenty feet from the shore. The heated water burned at her skin as she was rushed under the water along the current, beating into the rocks and debris. Sora was forced through the small pipe that allowed the river to flow out of the city at a precarious angle. Her fingers crunched and scraped painfully against the rusted out metal, ripping and tearing the skin on them. The knife she was holding pressed dangerously hard against her flesh as she was forced to contort into strange positions to fit through the pipe, leaving small nicks in her skin.

Fear gripped her and she struggled to get up to the surface, thrashing wildly in the current; her lungs were burning with the lack of oxygen. Before she made it to the top she was buffered around smacking onto rocks. Sora breached the surface of the water and sucked in a deep breath, while trying to stay afloat in the violent water. Her beanie and shoes had been ripped off during the battle with the currents and her hair was plastered to her face blocking her vision. So it was understandable that she was unable to see the large rocks that she slammed into. Her shield broke as she smashed her head into the rocks and her body floated down river into more gentle waters as her vision slowly blackened. Her knife got caught in her clothing and flowed downstream with her.


End file.
